


Unlucky

by sealpup9



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Character Death, Love Confessions, M/M, Persona 4 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21984415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sealpup9/pseuds/sealpup9
Summary: Souji had been Unlucky.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke & Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	Unlucky

**Author's Note:**

> A very quick bad-ending fic. This one's been sitting in my docs for a bit.
> 
> (First fic I've posted, so please let me know if I missed any tags or warnings/went overboard tagging them!)

It doesn’t feel real.

Yosuke’s hands grip the back of Souji’s shirt as he presses his body into him. An intimate moment that could have, _should_ have been anywhere but here.

There had never been so much blood before. No bones broken beyond recognition, no bent noses, no missing fingers. But this is the world they live in now.

It had been nothing but fog for days. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. When the day came, Souji boarded his train and took off, leaving his friends and family behind.

Leaving Yosuke behind.

He said he would visit, but the look on his face said otherwise. Fortunately or otherwise, neither had to worry about the truth of the statement; The train never made it out of town. Nothing did anymore.

With the fog came the shadows. Invasive and monstrous, too many that panic turned to mass hysteria. Shadows instilled a fear so deep in people that it was almost as if they were never meant to exist in this world.

Souji, he thinks, had run out of luck. He'd been unlucky enough to leave the day the fog began spitting out shadows and swallowing people up. Maybe a day prior he would have left and forgotten. He would be better off that way, surely. Yosuke knows the pain and burden of what they’d done would never truly leave their shoulders; Souji could get away with shrugging it off since he was leaving town.

But Souji had been Unlucky.

“Yosuke, are you with me?” Comes his partner’s voice, panic creeping up the edges. It isn’t like Souji to panic in situations like this, not truly. But this isn’t the TV world anymore.

“yes.” is all he can get out of his mouth, and the steel-eyed boy in front of him pulls away.

“wait-” He finds himself speaking again, eyes glancing up to meet Souji’s.

A realization hits. On par with realizing that they had failed, suffering casualties, heavy damage.

Souji is _angry._ Yosuke’s stomach twists in knots. He can feel the emotion now, rising out of his partner like a hot steam.

Souji obliges and looks back down at his partner. He waits for a response, softening his look a touch to make sure Yosuke knows it isn’t him he is angry with.

“D-Don’t go.” Yosuke clings, never having felt so helpless in his life.

Souji nods, but keeps an eye out for the enemy. His last target had suffered by the hand of the sword he now holds in one hand, blade is coated in black goo. His other hand holds onto Yosuke’s back to keep him from collapsing; he'd suffered a massive blow.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Souji states firmly, but turns his head at the sound of a trash can falling over. The alley had stayed safe for a few minutes, thankfully. Just enough time for Yosuke to heal some damage he and Souji had taken, but Yosuke had broken a few ribs, and neither have the energy left to fix them.

“Why is this happening-?” Yosuke whimpers, burying his face into Souji’s collar. Oh how he’d longed for this contact. For the feeling of Souji’s hand on his hip, the closeness he’d wanted for months now.

Souji doesn’t answer at first. He helps Yosuke duck down behind a large stack of boxes. The alley behind Aiya feels small in comparison to what’s coming. He breathes out a long sigh after the creature that loomed nearby passes.

“We fucked up.” Souji speaks, then pauses, rephrasing. “ _I_ fucked up.”

Yosuke’s certain the chill that runs down his spine is physical, as Souji grips him tighter to keep him upright. He glances up once more. The fog is so thick that it's hard to make out Souji’s features.

Yosuke shakes his head.

“It’s my fault.” He can at least see Souji’s mouth open in protest so he cuts him off, “no. Really. I-I was the one who suggested we…” he bites his lip, “I thought that t-taking him out would fix everything.”

The alley falls silent. Yosuke can hear his own breathing, Souji’s too. But Yosuke's is labored. Pain strikes him as he panics, his breathing picking up.

“This is _my_ fault.” Yosuke affirms, gripping Souji’s forearms now. He knows his partner is crying, too. If the broken bones weren’t enough, seeing Souji’s face is what did him in.

“Stop.” Souji speaks as calmly as he is able, but that anger still dwells under the surface. “I should have been more assertive. _I’m_ supposed to be the team's logic. I was wrapped up in protecting everyone.” the hand holding his weapon shakes.

Yosuke has never seen his partner this worked up. Under normal circumstances he would have pulled Souji away from whatever did this and let him feel it out. Be the shoulder to cry on in Souji’s desperate hour. Be the best friend he was supposed to be.

Instead, he’s the face of what the two had sought to destroy in the first place: a murderer.

Maybe in some sick way, he deserved this. But after watching the team be picked off one after another the thought feels selfish. They at least deserved better. He could almost laugh at the fact that the two of them are the only ones left. They’d come full circle.

“Partner I-” he chokes on his words, trying to find the breath to continue. The two didn’t have long, if the last few encounters were anything to go by. He gasps out his next words, trying to sound sane. Or at least caring.

“I love you.” He shakes, moving in to hug his partner once more. “I’m sorry I never told you. I-I never had the courage to f-fuckin'… j-just man up and tell you a-and now there’s nothing left. I just wanted to hold your hand. I wanted to go on dates an’ kiss you. Take you into the city. Go for walks,” he pulls his hand away from Souji for a moment to rub away the tears his eyes with the base of his palm, “I was too scared. N-Now it’s too late.” His head collapses against Souji’s shoulder once more and he cries as quietly as he can.

The silence that follows hurts more than the confession.

Eventually Yosuke pulls back from Souji, averting his eyes.

“I’m sorry, that was too far.”

“Was it?” Souji replies quickly. When Yosuke looks up, his partner's eyes are darting around anxiously. But this is a different kind of anxiety than watching for shadows, “For you, I mean.” he adds, watching Yosuke's face.

Yosuke shakes his head, looking back at him. His voice is hushed now,

“I love you.” Yosuke repeats with a little more confidence. He nods as he says it, to drive home the fact that this is what he truly feels.

All at once their lips meet, a kiss that's shocked and scared and enthusiastic all at once. Love, Yosuke thinks. He poured love into all of this. He closes his eyes and continues to pour everything into his partner, gripping his shirt slightly and moving closer, still.

But the kiss ends all too soon. Souji stares down at him, waiting. Yosuke looks up, eyes bright.

“I love you, too.” Souji speaks, letting any and all emotion into his voice. It’s not like anyone is around to find out.

The moment lasts a few more seconds, and then the noise comes again. A loud horn that erupts from the sky and the fog all at once. So far it has accurately predicted all of the deaths on the Investigation Team by at most 5 minutes.

Yosuke goes rigid.

Souji shakes his head, mumbling, “over my dead body.”

The term ‘heavy damage’ didn’t begin to encompass what Yosuke suffered. He should have been dead, but Souji had refused, spending his last bits of energy on healing before trying to drag his best friend away. That hadn’t worked either, however it seemed to be buying them little time before the inevitable. The enemy would surely snap out of its confused state in a minute or two.

Souji fusses over him, making sure his head is comfortable in his lap. No healing for either. Besides, they weren’t getting far with Yosuke’s snapped spine. Souji calls upon Izanagi one last time, slaughtering the enemy with a powerful blast of electricity. His persona fades into the fog like Yosuke’s had when he had been hit.

“Yosuke.” Souji says, trying to get his attention. His partner had only whimpered when he suffered the blow and collapsed. “Can you hear me?” His trembling hands shake him slightly.

Yosuke’s vision had blurred out when he hit the ground. On an attempt to move the realization hits. He can’t move his legs.

“P-partner-” he sounds scared, more so than before.

“I’m right here.” Souji clasps his hand around one of Yosuke’s, his eyes wide and frightened.

“C-can’t move my legs.” He winces, but there’s no pain aside from his headache.

“I-It’s okay. I’ll get us somewhere safe.”

“We can’t win this.” Yosuke concludes. But he knows Souji knows this. Both of them shake hearing it aloud. It made it more real.

It takes a minute for Souji to speak, his head hung low and his voice cracking, “I know.”

“H-hey-?” Yosuke tilts his head up, but his vision’s beginning to fade through all of the blurry. He moves his other hand up to cling to his partner’s hand. His grip grows weaker by the second.

“I’m here,” Souji repeats, “I’m right here.”

“P-promise me something.” Yosuke coughs, blinking in an attempt to focus his eyes. He swears he can see his partner’s face, but just for a split second. There was too much blood.

“Anything.” Souji’s voice is pained. He seems to be holding on for this conversation alone.

“If w-we meet in-” he chokes through a pained sob, his body shaking, “another life? Y-you better make sure I don’t fuck up this badly. N-never.”

“Yosuke I-”

“No. Please. Just. You don’t have to mean it. F-for all we know this is the last time I’m going to see you.”

Souji seems to nod, but he sways. His upper body strength is failing him, and he leans back against the wall of the alleyway.

“Partner…?”

“I’m here.” Souji forces out, struggling to remain conscious.

“Love you.” He speaks through his panting, suddenly whining from the pain.

“I love you, too.” Souji grips Yosuke’s hand tight. “I-I promise. I’ll find you.”

Yosuke’s grip becomes limp after those words. He stares up blankly at his partner, lips slightly parted.

“Yosuke-?” Souji’s fear is apparent in the way he talks. The panic, the emotion comes flooding in. Tears and blood and sweat drip from his face as he shakes the body that lay in his lap.

“Yosuke!” He coughs, blood dripping from his lips. He wipes it away.

“No. Don’t leave me.” He leans his head back, crying out loudly, “ _I can’t be alone again-!”_

Souji didn’t know if he believed in an afterlife. He’d only just found something worth living for in Inaba, so nothing else that came after seemed real.

The last thing he expected was that familiar deep blue of the Velvet room. He looks around and blinks, his eyes adjusting. The familiar limousine seats, Igor with his long nose, Margaret and her sad eyes. There’s a knowingness to them. He can sense the guilt from them both. How unlucky.

He doesn’t expect to wake up on the train. His eyes adjust to the sun as he looks around, suddenly startled by his surroundings.

_Breathe._

His hands are quick to move towards the small familiar phone in his pocket. Monday April 11, 2010.

He exhales, a wave of something coming over him. A quick glance through his phone confirms his suspicion. No phone numbers aside from his parents. No texts or calls from any familiar numbers.

Stepping off the train seems surreal, even moreso seeing his uncle and cousin standing there, waiting for him. Dojima and Nanako, both alive and well.

“Hey! Over here!”

Familiarity washes over him as he steps out for his “first” day of school. The rain’s falling today, just as he remembers. The closer he gets to Yasogami High the more he recalls. If he had his days right…

“W-woooah!!” A student on a bike flies past, clearly not in control at all. It was most likely the umbrella that did him in.

If Souji remembered correctly, when he was here last, he hadn’t introduced himself to the student at this point. But he was given a second chance for a reason, and he would do what he needed to, what he wanted to.

“Hey, are you okay?” Souji steps over. The student’s hair stands out, being dyed an orangeish brown. His red headphones are draped around his neck, his face pained.

He’s hunched over, but he gives Souji a look, frustrated that someone had seen.

“Hnngh…” he winces and looks back down at his bike, trying to right himself, “Y-yeah go on laugh it up-” he sounds hurt, like this wasn’t the only thing to go wrong this morning.

Souji stares. He’d been thankful to see his uncle and cousin, of course. But having Yosuke in front of him, alive and in the flesh...

Souji shakes his head, “Do you need a hand?”

“I’m fine-” The student bends over to lift his bike up. When he’s got that situated he turns to see that grey-haired student holding his umbrella up for him.nYosuke's heart rate picks up. Why? This kid didn’t look familiar…

“Thanks.” He takes the umbrella from him and turns away.

“I wouldn’t ride that with one hand…” Souji starts, but then his eyes widen. He’d forgotten. Yosuke doesn’t know him yet, he wouldn’t understand Souji’s motive here.

“Yeah, I know. I was just in a rush this morning.” He starts to walk towards the school, pushing his bike along, but stops and turns back, “Hey… wait, I’ve never seen you before.”

“Souji Seta.” Souji holds out a hand for Yosuke to take. “I’m a transfer student from Tokyo. I’m living here with my uncle and cousin while my parents are overseas.”

“Ah, so _that’s_ why.” Yosuke offers a smile. He takes Souji’s hand and shakes.

Souji becomes fully convinced now. This was definitely real. Nothing could emulate Yosuke’s speech patterns and body language. He finds himself blushing, smiling bigger than he was supposed to as the boy continues,

“I’m Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya.”


End file.
